There's a curse between us
by NacaMichio
Summary: Music is Murder! When a killer commits his acts based on music the team must figure out his pattern before his promise to Hotchner is fullfilled. I do not own any songs mentioned.T for violence. Not Slash.
1. Nightmares

**Now I have troubles staying on task, as you can see by the many unfinished stories. I have typed at least three chapters of each so They are continueing and none should be left undone. I told myself that when I finished two stories I could post this one. I have been waiting to post it and I am so excited for this one. I promised to finish at least two commitments and now I get the reward! I hope it's just as much a reward for you as it is for me! **

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

Reid shuddered,"So he is killing based off of songs on some sort of playlist?" The rain pelted them from above. He rubbed his arms and looked down. The rain suddenly stopped and he looked up in surprise. Morgan was holding a loarge black unbrella over his head.

"And this list just jumps all over. There is no connection between songs." Morgan read off the file.

"Other than that they all mention Death." Reid looked at the body sprawled over the grave. It was strange. This body had been placed in a graveyard. He had never seen this done before. It was sprawled as if he was just dancing.

"Transmit your radio, Radio, respond if you're alive. Give me a sign of life. I need to say to you, say to you. What does that mean?"

"It's a song that has something having to do with death. over 80 percent of music has the words or something to do with Death. 50% of that are about suicide, 20 percent are murder and 10 Percent have a referance in some way to death or dying that can be missed if not listened to with a critical ear. Even most love songs refer to death." Reid smiled.

"Dance or Die! Family Force 5! He's posed as if danceing. That's it." JJ smiled," I love thier music."

"What connection do these have in common?" Hotch whispered.

"The last song was Time of Dying by Three Days Grace. both bands have a number in thier name." Morgan offered.

"The probability of that being the connection is..." Reid started but a smiled from Morgan made him stop.

"What connected the first song to the second? Also a number?"

"No... It wasn't a number. "

"The first victim drowned and the song was Heavy in your arms by Florence and the Machine. The clue was ,' he took me to the river where he slowly watched me drown' so we can assume that the murders are based on the songs. " Rossie muttered," And a large clock busted by the hand of the second victim and this one dancing in a cemetary."

"What is he pointing at?"

"I thought he was just posed to look like he was dancing." Prentiss frowned.

"No. He is definately pointing." Morgan said. Suddenly he jumped over the small wall behind the grave they were at. he picked up a small concrete angel. Reid was glad he had found a clue but was sad that his cover was gone. He shivered as the rain hit him again.

"Concrete Angel! Martina Mcbride!" Prentiss shouted.

"That's just implied death. " Reid whispered. Saddness creeped over him. That song was about a little girl...

"We have to assume the next victim will be a child. Morgan, call Garcia and ask for her to cross referance any schools in the area." Hotch commanded

"Can do." Morgan moved over to stand next to Reid as he made the call and Reid huddled under the unbrella gratefully.

"Goddess of the machine. Speak and fear."

"Hey babe." Morgan whispered. His voice was different than normal. Since everyone else had left already, Reid was the only one there to notice. He looked up and Morgan just smiled.

"Oh, Morgan uh..." She said flustered,"Make a wish and it will be granted."

"I need you to crossreference the schools in this area. We think the next victim may be a child. Hurry and fax it to the station."

"Will do."

"Thanks."

"That was different." Reid smiled. Morgan shoved him out into the rain then pulled him back and started to walk. Reid followed close behind.

"Can you keep a secret?" Morgan smiled even wider.

"I guess. I don't really gossip."

"I asked Garcia out on a date last night. She said as soon as I get home safetly we will get something to eat together."

"Wow." Reid smiled and shivered.

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

00000000000

_Run! Just Run! _

_From What?_

That_! Just run from That. If you get away from it then you will be fine._

_I can't run anymore. I'm tired._

_Yes you can, and you will. Sadly, you will keep running. You always run. You are just a weak kid. Only one person believed in you and he is now gone. You have to deal with it._

_I have dealt with it._

_Prove it._

_I have to run... That's coming._

_By all means._

000000000000000

Reid awoke and looked around. That was the first night that he had actually not had a nightmare. Suddenly the lightning flashed out his window. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his gun. There was a shadow outside his window. A human.

He brought it up to eye level and moved the curtain just as another bolt struck in the distance. Nothing. He looked over his windowsill. Nothing... He picked up the phone and dialed.

"Morgan?"

"Yes, Kid?"

"I.. is there another bed in your room?"

"Yes. They gave me two twins."

"Do you mind?" He whispered.

"Come on over. Nightmares?"

"I think so."

0000000000000000

The next morning the rain hadn't let up but the list of schools came flooding in anyway. They all read about the schools in the area. Only two were close enough to really concider but they would post officers at all the schools just in cse. The team would stake out two schools that fit into the unsubs mindset.

"This one is out of the question." Morgan sighed.

"Why's that?"Prentiss asked.

"Because these children are gifted. Thier parents all pick them up at a certain time or thier student gets demerits. There would be no time unless the killer would enter the school, which the likelyhood of surpassing the guards is about 15 percent. then they would have to commit the murder before the school went on shut down."

"That sounds like prison more than school." JJ said.

"With worse food." Morgan grinned and Prentiss tried to hide her face. Suddenly Reid jumped up and pointed to the window.

"There is someone out there!" He ran over to the window and threw the curtain open and found nothing. Again nothing.

"There is no way. this rain is way too thick. they wouldn't be able to see a thing. the only way back there is over two fences." Rossie said.

"I swear it. I saw them last night."

"That's why you called me. I would have come to look if you had just said." Morgan shrugged.

"I didn't think it was a real person but it is. I just saw them again."

"There is nowhere for them to hide. You've never liked storms so it's probably just the lighting." Prentiss sighed.

"I'm not crazy." Reid spun around on her.

"I know. Sorry." Prentiss put her hands up.

"Ok, so we each are going to be split into two teams at the school most likely to be hit. We have three hours until they are let out. I want you there in two. Go get some rest." Hotch stood and left the room, followed by the others. Reid hesitated.

"What is it?" Morgan asked.

"I'm not crazy."

"We know, Reid. We know."


	2. Showtime

**Me: Do I own Criminal Minds?**

**Sister: Not last time I checked.**

**Me: Soon...but Sadly...**

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

**Enjoy! :)**

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><p>"<strong><em>COURAGE<em>** is resistance to _fear_, mastery of _fear_, not absence of _fear_." Mark Twain

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><p>Reid stepped down the corridor as the roof spilled in. He covered his face and stepped back. When he uncovered his face he was standing in a new room. It was set ablaze and the fire was all around him, the smoke burning his eyes. He ducked under it and fell backwords, sitting down hard on his backside. A woman stood in front of him, long blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. Fire fleww up behind her. Her white nightgown begun to burn at the edges.<p>

"Help me, Spencer." he heard her say. He stared at her lips.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"Save me."She suddenly flickered and burst into flames. All Reid could see were her beautiful green eyes.

_Run,Reid._

_I can't anymore._

_You can and sadly ... you will._

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><p>Reid woke up and sat up quickly. He looked around then grabbed two handfuls of hair, pulling his knees up to his chest. He sobbed for a few moments then let go of his hair, hugging his knees and resting his chin on his left knee.<p>

Lightning flashed and he froze in place. There was someone there. He knew there was. Lightning flashed again but this time the shadow moved. Reid felt the chill run down his spine, attempting to freeze him in place.

He reached for his gun with his right hand and grabbed his cell phone with his left. He dailed, the gun raised to the window as another bolt revieled the shadow knelt over.

"Reid?" Morgan's voice groggily answered.

"Morgan... Otuside my window... Come but please be quiet." Reid whispered. He heard a little movement on the other side.

"Stay on the line. Be very quiet, I'm putting you on speakerphone." Reid nodded even though Morgan couldn't see. He sat on the bed and tried to steady his shaking hand but the fear was slowly leaking into him.

_Not again... I can't go through that again._

Reid could see the scars on his arm just below his folded up shirt from the drug. One more flash of lightning.

" Morgan! It's moved!" He whispered urgently. Suddenly a familiar shadow was cast on Reid's window. He leapt from the bed and busted out the door and pointed his gun toward's Morgan," Keep your gun drawn, facing me. I don't want him sneeking up behind one of us." The rain pelted them from the side as they scanned behind eachother. Reid's breath caught in his throat._ We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... We must do that which we think we cannot. Eleanor Roosevelt. _He thought to himself. He wanted anything other than to meet his fear in the face tonight.

"In your room, Go." Morgan commanded. Reid nodded and bolted into the room. Morgan pushed him further in and closed the door then raised his gun and opened the closet and Reid flipped the light on to the bathroom. He spun around and leaned on the wall next to his bathroom and slid down. He sat the gun down on the floor next to him. Morgan sat next to him in the beam of light from the bathroom.

"Go ahead and sleep, Reid. You need it. I'll keep watch." Morgan whispered. Reid looked over at him then nodded at the floor. He slowly stood up and made his way to the bed. He slowly turned around," what's up, kid."

"I'm not crazy, Morgan. I'm not crazy, Am I?" He sat on the bed and put his face in his hands.

"Reid. Look at me." Morgan smiled in the dim light as Reid looked up," The only crazy person, is one that would mess with you, cause now he has to deal with me. We'll get 'im."

Reid smiled then lay on his side facing away from Morgan. It seemed like ages as he watched the window and slowly drifted into an uneasy sleep.

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><p>"Hotchner." Hotch answered his phone," Yes. We will be at the station soon. We have already met your officers." He nodded," So there is another detective for us to meet? Thank you." he hung up.<p>

"What's up, Hotch?" Prentiss asked as she walked up to Hotch and Reid.

"There has been another murder. The detective we were working with is one of the family members. He couldn't come in so we are to meet Detective Whitestock. Prentiss, stay and update JJ and Rossie. Morgan, Dr. Reid and I will go to the scene and you'll meet us there."

"After we go interview Detective Roth about his family member.

"Yes. An officer is waiting there with information that you need. Reid,, Morgan, with me." they climbed into the SUV and Hotch turned in the driver's seat to look at the backseat to stare at Reid.

"What's wrong?" Reid asked, searching Hotch's face for an explination.

"I ordered two officers to guard your room at night. Did you see anything that could identify the person outside your window?"

"No, I didn't really see them."

"Then we will keep an eye out for anybody. Ready to go, Morgan?" He turned to Morgan who nodded and buckled himself in.

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><p>As they drove Reid started to nod off but was jolted awake only a few moments later," Come on, kid." Morgan opened his door and Reid groggily followed, the rain wasn't as bad as the past few days but it still pelted them in small cold drops, stinging thier faces and any exposed skin. They walked into some woods and stopped at the edge of a lake. A woman lay there, facedown in a white nightgown.<p>

An officer approached them," You must be Special Agent Hotchner." He shook Hotch's hand then looked at the other two.

"This is Special Agent Derek Morgan." The officer shook Morgan's hand," And Special Agent, Dr. Spencer Reid." The officer shook his hand.

"Well, I am Detective Whitestock."

"What can you tell us?" Hotch asked.

"She was found by a dog sometime early this morning and the owner passed out when he saw the blood. An hour or so later he comes around and calls us. She was identified as Roth's neice, Annebel. She is eighteen and her hair was dyed blonde with three pink stripes, one in the back and two in the front. That is how she was enitially identified. Later a wallet was found next to her. "

"Has anyone moved the body?" Reid asked.

"No. Her face is partially exposed so we could fully identify her."

"Morgan. Go interview the cavilian and see if he knows anything." Hotch ordered. Reid didn't even see Morgan leave as he leaned over and touched her exposed neck. There was a locket shaped like a heart.

"This was placed here as if he wanted us to see it." Reid said.

""How can you tell that?" The detective asked.

"Have you ever noticed that when you lay down the charm on your necklace will slide to the back of your neck?"

"Yeah, so?"

"When you fall forward or even move forward then the charm will tangle in the hair or slide to the front. Since it did not slide to the front and is not tangled in her hair, then it was placed here." Reid took out a set of purplw gloves and put them on, lightly unclasping the necklace. He almost dropped it but Hotch leaned down and caught it in his own gloved hand.

"What is it, Reid?" Hotch asked.

"The engraving on the locket." Reid whispered his throat suddenly dry. Hotch held it up to his eyes and sighed. Morgan ran up.

"He doesn't know anything. What you got there, Hotch?"

"A locket." He handed it to Morgan.

"That's your name, Hotch." Morgan said.

"Yes. Detective, was anything else found. Anything suspicious? Like a poem written somewhere that makes no sense?"

"Yes. We thought it was grafitti on the bridge but it reads that way." He led them about fifty feet away and showed them the bridge. Hotch stayed back as Reid moved forward to investigate. Reid leaned in to examine the brownish red substance.

"Why does fate make us suffer? There's a curse between us." Morgan read aloud. Suddenly Reid leapt up on the bridge.

"Guys there's more." He stepped up and read, his head bent as he read and examined it, "Understand that I need to,Wish that I had other choices,Than to harm the one I love."

"What does that mean?" The detective asked.

"Guys... this is blood..." Reid stumbled back and fell at the base of the bridge.

"It means that we are under attack. Morgan, call the others and tell them to meet us at the station in an hour. Come on Reid. What are you doing?"

"Hotch, at the rate it's raining, if this had been here as long as the girl has been then it would have washed away, leaving it smeared and illegible. This blood is also mostly fresh." Reid pulled out his gun.

"That means he had to be doing this while we were investigating the scene. He may still be here. Come on. Let's go." Hotch unholstered his gun and they walked along the path to the SUV's. Now Reid was never going to get any sleep.

**More to come. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks to everyone who reviewed last time, A, MCRmy Soldier, omgnotagain, and Mystic Fantasy.**

**This is a new one for me. I'm really into Crime shows, Books and definatly Criminal minds but I have never written about Serial Murder so I hope it comes out as good as it sound in my head!**


	3. Discussion

**Me: Hello, pizza shack *hides giggle***

**Derek Morgan: Hi, I would like to order three cheese pizzas**

**Me: That would be thirteen dollars and the rights to your whole team.**

**Morgan: I'll pass. *Hangs up***

**I do not own Criminal Minds or any song mentioned in this story.**

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><p>"The people to fear are not those who disagree with you but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know." Napoleon Bonaparte<p>

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><p>They made it to the SUV's and to the station. Morgan called the others to meet them at the station and they arrived soon after. Hotch sat down at the table and was soon followed by the others. Prentiss sighed and smiled when she made eye contact with Reid.<p>

"So, any idea what song is on the bridge?" Hotch asked.

"The combination of words is more specific than the other murders. He may be angry and specifically telling us to back off." Reid said, looking over papers in front of him.

"Wait! I think I got it..." JJstarted to hum quietly to herself. She got a little louder and sang aloud,"Would you mind if I hurt you...Understand that I need to...wish that I had other choices thn to hurt the ones I love..." She looked up," Morgan call Garcia and tell her to look at Within Temptation songs."Morgan dialed his phone and put it on speaker phone.

"Speak dirty to me." Garcia whispered in a very dirty voice. Morgan chuckled and Reid felt his cheeks go red.

"Your on speaker phone hun." JJ whispered.

"We need you to look up these lyrics in all Within Temptation songs." Hotch stated.

"Your wish is my command master. Just give me the safe word." They heard silence on the other end then furious typing," I am assuming you mean the bridge lyrics at the latest crime scene."

"That's correct." Rossie chimed in. They heard furious clicking then she suddenly stopped.

"I have one song called, 'What have you done?' Featuring Keith Caputo. "

"Alright."

"It's quoted at the beginning, 'Would you mind if I hurt you?understand that I need to, wish that I had other choices Than to harm the one I love. What have you done now?' then it is later quoted as saying,'I won't show mercy on you now.' That sounds pretty bad boss." She clicked a bit more," And also it says,' Why does fate make us suffer? there's a curse between us, between me and you, What have you done now?"

"That does not sound good." Prentiss said, rubbing her temples.

"It sounds like a direct threat to you Hotch." Rossie sat forward and glanced at Hotch who seemed unmoved.

"The unsub may be angry that we are stepping in. They may have a personal grudge they are trying to settle and when we got in the way he killed the detectives neice." Reid interjected.

"So that means we all could be in danger. We will all have to travel in pairs and that means we need to share rooms. JJ and Prentiss, me and Rossie and I assume it's all right Morgan and Reid?"

"That's alright." Morgan whispered then looked up," But don't tell anybody we are changing rooms. Tell the police here that the watch over Reid's room is no longer needed, that he was imagining things. I can watch from my room and see if anyone _is _stalking Reid's room."

"Good idea. Now how did the interview go with the Detectives family?"

"It was cut pretty short but we got a little information. The neice had been living with them because of an abusive parent. They had let her go out last night to a friends house. The friend told them the next morning she had never made it to thier house. She had left with a backpack and was wearing jeans and a red shirt. "

"When she was found she had a white nightgown on?" Reid questioned," Where is her other clothes?"

"They were never found. The unsub may have kept them as a trophy." One of the guys said.

"We haven't seen any case of that in the other murders so why would he start now?" One of the girls said. Reid was losing track of the conversation.

"Maybe he has and we haven't seen it." Rossie said. Reid suddenly stood up and went to the pictures of each victim and held a finger up, pointing to each in turn, muttering to himself.

"What you see,Kid?" Morgan asked. Reid turned to them.

"Look at this." He pointed at the first murder," Does that look like shirt you would wear to sleep in, yet she is in pajama pants and was murdered late at night while her husbund and son slept."

"I see. She is wearing a very nice shirt. " Rossie said, quietly.

"The guy at the graveyard, his friends said that he had a grey hoodie that he wore everywhere. When we found him he was only in a thing black shirt. His hoodie was nowhere. We thought he left it at his house, right, but it had been raining for a week before we even got here." Prentiss leaned torwards the pictures.

"Exactly. He is taking the clothes they are wearing at the time." Reid looked at the latest murder photograph then at the second," What are we missing here?" He pointed.

"Her bra..." JJ whispered, looking at the floor.

"That's correct. The report says that she was not wearing a bra but the skin had marks that indicated she had one on. " Garcia said over the phone.

The door swug open and knocked Reid over, onto the floor. He sat sprawled on the floor as the officer adressed Hotch," Agent Hotchner? There is a package for you. the Detective said that we should check it. They said it's safe for you to open. "

"Can you bring it in here?" Hotch asked.

"Yes. I actually have it right here." He leaned in and Prentiss took it and handed it to Hotch.

"Thank you officer." Rossie said as Hotch examined the small red envelope. The officer smiled at Reid then closed the door.

"Reid, get off the floor." Prentiss sighed. Reid stood up and fixed his shirt. Hotch took out his keys and slit the envelope open and started to take out the message.

"Wait, shouldn't you put gloves on?" JJ asked.

"Yes, I should have thought of that before now." Hotch took out gloves and put them on then removed a small peice of paper," Agent Hotchner. I think we both know how this ends. " Then another small peice of paper fell out of the envelope.

"What does that one say?" Reid asked.

"Stop every clock, the stars are in shock, the river would run to the sea. I won't let you fly, I won't say goodbye, I won't let you slip away from me. " He read then started to examine the paper.

"Does this mean he's commited another murder?"

"I don't think so. Garcia, you still there?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, my leige." they heard a faint clacking.

"Can you look up these lyrics?"

"Yes I can."

"The songs are becoming more and more specific, like he doesn't think we are smart enough to figure them out." Rossie said.

"Actually it's more rushed. He knows we can figure out his hints but we aren't finding out fast enough. He's becoming rushed." Reid added.

"Why would he change his delivery method? Why not give us this with the next murder?" Prentiss asked.

"Hotch." Garcia asked.

"Yes?"

"It's called Tears of an angel. Most of the song repeats the same theme with different words. It's very sad but beautiful like somthing you would have at a funeral, maybe."

"What does that mean?" Morgan grunted.

"I- I think it may mean that he's showing remorse of some sort." Prentiss said.

"Oh, no. I have to go." JJ stood up and dialed her phone. It rang a few times," Why did you let him on TV? He just lost his..." they heard her say as she left the room.

"It sounds more like... He's lost someone close to him." Reid said, reading the note again.

"Well, we have to wait until he makes his next move." Rossie shook his head.

**Sorry if this Chapter was a bit dry. the next will be more exciting. I promise to write more soon. **

** Thank you to Uil, NerdHerd-27, starryeyes12, and doglover11 for Reviewing! **

**What does the killer want with Hotch?**

**Who will he/she hunt next?**

**Is anyone safe?**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Shadows

**Spencer Reid: Uh, why are you standing so close to me?**

**Me: You're amazing.**

**Reid: You are making me uncomfortable...**

**Me: I'll move under one condition...**

**I still don't own Criminal Minds, or any songs or lyrics mentioned.**

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><p>"If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened. " George S. Patton<p>

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><p>Reid sat next to the desk in Morgan's room. It had been a month since the last lights were all off except one next to Morgan's bed and Reid's computer screen. Lightning occassionally flashed," I have never been anywhere that rained this much." Morgan complained.<p>

"Washington last year." Reid grunted, clicking something with his index finger.

"True. So, what you looking at?"

"Tox report. Garcia couldn't mail it to us so she emailed it."

"What's it say?"

"No traces of anything to knock them out. Nothing that explains why there was no struggle, no blood or skin under thier nails, no wounds from a fight. Nothing. No bleach under thier nails at all. Nothing." Reid scanned the page again then clicked for another page to come up.

"They are perfectly clean. No drugs or anything?"

"Nothing. No poison. How did..." Suddenly Reid froze.

"Kid?" Morgan asked. Reid pointed at the window. The shadow was there. He glanced at Morgan who put his hand up then spun it for Reid to keep talking.

"N-none of them were reported missing until late. "He took his gun out as Morgan stood with his pointed to the window,"I think the family has something to do with it." Morgan busted the door open and Reid threw open the curtain. A man dropped to one knee and threw his hands up.

"Don't shoot!" It was a teenager, late teens, with a black jacket and ball cap, short cropped black hair and pale skin.

"Who are you? Why have you been stalking Dr. Reid?"

"He seemed like the only one who wouldn't hurt me. Please." He looked up at Reid then back to Morgan.

"What do you mean?" Morgan lowered his weapon.

"I... Please don't hurt me." Reid took out his phone and lowered his weapon," Hotch? Yeah we need you down here. We got him." He put his gun away.

" Morgan, bring him in. Sit him over there." Morgan grabbed him and pulled him into the room. He lowered the boy into a chair.

"Stay here."

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><p>"This is him, Hotch. Says his name is Charlie Grey. " Reid met Hotch and the others outside the room. They all filed in and sat in various places around the room. Hotch sat on the bed in front of Charlie.<p>

"Start from the begining. Why were you outside Dr. Reid's room?" Hotch asked quietly.

"I'm duel enrolled at the college. I met this guy a few weeks ago. His name was Erik. We got to know eachother. He came to me one day and said that he had a job for me. He wanted me to watch one of you. I didn't know why. The first night I heard him talking to himself about a murder. I freaked. Then I got a message that I had to continue or he would find my mom in Florida. No one knows I'm from Florida! I haven't told anyone..." He closed his eyes and rubbed his face.

"So you were blackmailed."Morgan stated.

"Yes!" He threw his hands down," I tried to tell my mother not to trust anyone and she says I am overreacting."

"We are going to take you to the police station. Tell them everything then you can go back to the dorm where you will be watched."

"Thank you."

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><p>"So he didn't know the guys real name?" Prentiss sighed and lay her head on her arms.<p>

"Fake name. He said his hair was dyed a different color evey week!" JJ shouted. Hotch hadn't joined them yet so they were letting out thier frustration.

"There are so many students that fit Reid's profile!"Rossie stated. Reid glanced at him then back at the photos. Suddenly Hotch burst into thier room.

"So, what do we have?"

"We had Garcia check for hospitals in the area and deaths in the time frame between the last murder and the last message."

"And we got that there were two hospitals in the circumference of the murder areas and 3 miles around them."

"How many deaths?"

"There were six. Two were older than 80 and lived on thier own without family. There were three children, two in car crashes and one was ill for a while and just happened to die around that time. One was about thirty and died in a car wreck."

"Rossie, Prentiss, go check out the family of the thirty year old and ask if any of thier family members are taking the death harder than the others. Ask them if that member is acting out in any way." Hotch ordered. they both nodded and gathered thier things. Prentiss visibly relaxed as she left the room.

"Reid and Morgan, investigate the second crime scene's photos and see if you can tell what made him change from killing indoors to killing outdoors." Hotch nodded at JJ," We will discuss how to handle..." Reid and Morgan closed the door behind them and walked to the front of the police station. Reid suddenly stopped and squinted then was plowed over.

Morgan grabbed the body on top of Reid and threw him to the pavement. Reid sat up and put a hand on Morgan's arm," Stop, Stop! It's Grey." Reid got up and helped Grey up.

Grey breathed hard and looked around," He's coming for me. I saw him."

"Where?" Morgan asked, pushing Reid behind him and pulling Grey under the overhang.

"I saw him about a block ago and then he ran at me. I jumped over a fence and ran. He shot at me. I ran here as fast as I could."

"You are all in Danger, Agent Morgan! He screamed that I chose the wrong side and that we all would pay dearly!" Grey panted and rubbed his eyes then put his hands on his head, trying to calm himself," I am so sorry! I am so sorry. If I knew he was a killer..." Grey blinked back tears as Reid stepped forward and smiled.

"I know what it feels like to think it's your fault. You have done nothing wrong. As a matter of fact you did the right thing coming to us with this." Reid remembered Tobias making him choose the family and shook his head.

"Let's get you inside." Morgan said, putting a hand on Grey's free shoulder.

Suddenly a report rang through the air and blood splattered everywhere as Reid fell away from Grey and landed hard on the pavement and passed out.

**Thank you for reading! I love reviews! **

**Thank you to ReadingYourThoughts and lolyncut for your reviews! **

**Sorry for the cliffhanger! hope you don't murder me! **

**_Any song requests?_ If you think you have a song that the Playlist Reaper would use than say so in a review or PM me! I'l take a few requests. Leave name of Band and Song. Thanks!**


	5. Angels

**On the criminal Minds set like a boss.**

**Me: Where is my mocha and this scene is all wrong!**

**Morgan: Uh, who are you?**

**Me: The new director.**

**Morgan: Let me see some ID.**

**Me: *smiles* **Runs away as fast as legs can carry****

**I do not own Criminal Minds or any songs or Lyrics mentioned.**

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><p>"For fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Alexander Pope<p>

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><p>The lights were blinding and at first he couldn't open his eyes. After blinking a few times he was able to look around. There was Agent Prentiss. Where was everyone else? Who else was hurt? What had happened. He remembered being scared and a gun going off. He reached up and touched Prentiss' head. She jumped then smiled groggily.<p>

"Reid! you're awake!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah." Reid's head was throbbing. He touched it then watched Prentiss dial her phone. She spoke quietly to someone then smiled at him.

"What happened?"

"Rossie and I had just left when you and Morgan stepped outside and were met by Charlie was frantic and then you were all shot at. Morgan jumped in front of you and knocked you down. When you hit the cement it knocked you out. Knocked you pretty good."

"Prentiss. What about the others? What about Grey and Morgan?" Reid whispered, afraid of the answer.

"Grey was shot in the back of the head. Dead instantly." Prentiss hesitated.

"W-what about Morgan?" Reid asked. She just looked down at his hand she was holding then a grin spread across her face as a shadow was cast on them from the doorway.

"You didn't think you could get rid of me that easy, did you?" Morgan smiled from the door.

"Well..." Reid smiled crookedly then pressed his free hand to his forhead.

"Sorry about that, Kid." he laughed as JJ suddenly bolted past him into Reid's room and hugged him on the side Prentiss wasn't on. Soon the whole gang was standing in his rather small room.

"How does it feel? Concussion?"

"Better than being shot. How soon can I get out of here?"

"Since this is a matter of dire urgence I called the doctor and he says that you can leave today but you need to rest as much as possible. He's comming now.

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Reid walked in a circle around the conference room. Prentiss sighed loudly," Would you stop?" suddenly everyone looked at her.

"Stop, what?" Reid asked, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.

"Paceing." She sighed again.

"I'm sorry if my nervousness offends you." Suddenly Reid burst from the room, slamming the door behind him. Prentiss shook her head then stood up and left after him.

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She found him in another room standing in the middle of the room, stareing at the window. She could see the sobs throughout his body. she touched his arm and he spun around, breathing heavily.

"Oh, want me to leave here too? Is there anywhere else I need to look out for to get out of your way?"

"Reid, I'm sorry. You must be going through so much right now and I'm just being a royal, well... you know." She looked at the floor.

"Why did he have to... I mean... we should have been able to protect him." Reid ran his hands over his eyes furiously but the tears just smeared all over his face. He Looked up and his lip trembled. Prentiss put his face in her hands and gently made him look at her.

"Reid, this was not your fault. you didn't do this. Grey made a mistake and so did this psycho. We'll get him , and when we do he will regret the day he crossed you." she smiled and nodded then she pulled the taller man into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and burried his face in her shoulder. He sobbed and tried not to make a lot of noise, muffling himself on her shoulder. she just held the younger man until he calmed down and stood up.

"Please don't tell the others." He whispered. he wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"I won't. " She pulled him down and kissed his forhead then smiled and turned to leave. Reid smiled after her. He had never really gotten to know her that well. he would have to remind himself to do just that after this.

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"Reports say that the murderer took a break recently but may have struck again. Here's footage of two Federal agents talking to a young man when the 'Playlist Reaper' takes the young man down. These images are graphic so parents and weak of stomach should not watch." the newscaster announced. Prentiss took Reid's hand as the security footage started on the screen. Reid jumped when Grey's head exploded all over him in the video. Hotch paused it just after Morgan took Reid down.

"We think this was planned, that the killer wanted him to run to us. We recieved this message last night." Hotch held up a white envelope with a red treble cleff sketched on it, for all of the gathered officers to see. They were trying to get awareness up.

"We are looking for a white male, in his thirties. He will have what is called the Emo look. He will have dyed hair, various strange colors, never natural. He will have piercings and body tatoos but will be fit. He may appear weak at first but when examined will prove to be very muscular." Rossie added.

"He will have lost a family member in the past month and a half, in some tragedy. We think he is out for revenge for the death of said family member. Blames society for his or her death." Morgan said.

"He will be to himself and probably have troubles at home with a wife, girlfriend or even his mother. He seems to target women in general but also attacks men. He will probably be one to punish himself so he will probably wear long sleeves, even on a hot day. Be aware that this unsub may be crazy. Do not aprehend without backup." Hotch said loudly.

"He will have suicidal tendencies, not because he is the steriotype 'Emo' but because he has lost that family member. He will be will ing to do anything, as long as at least one of us are taken with him. He seems to not want to hurt anyone younger than eighteen but I would not stop keeping a close eye on your families." Reid nervously took his turn.

"Be safe." hotch ended and picked up his folders. Suddenly his phone rang," Hotchner." He nodded a few times," Be right there." he hung up.

"Don't tell me..." Prentiss sighed and put her free hand on her forhead. Reid squeezed her other hand lightly. she looked down then at his worried face.

"there's been another of the officers said that his daughter listened to the band so Morgan, call Garcia and have her look up the lyrics to My Chemical Romance's song Heaven help us. Let's get down there." Hotch ordered then led them out the door to the SUV's.

Without even noticeing, Prentiss led reid to the SUV and they didn't part hands until they climbed into the Vehicle. Morgan smiled at Reid. once Prentiss had gone to Hotch's SUV.

"What?" Reid asked, innocently.

"Nothing." Morgan started the SUV.

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Reid stepped up to the house and sighed. Another dead. Prentiss touched his shoulder as she went past and he smiled at her then followed the rest into the house. The officers were frantic. Two ran out past them and outside. Another covered his mouth, turning pale and motioning down the hallway. At the end of the hallway there was achoice to go next to the stairs and to the right or up. Hotch led them up.

The detective pointed and Hotch pushed open the door. He walked in, uneffected by the large amounts of blood. This victim's neck had been slit but based on the handprints the attacker had held her throat to keep her alive long enough for the blood to pour out.

He had spread the blood in two arches across the floor and up onto the walls. With his fingers he had drawn very intrecut feathers on the two archs to make very realistic bloody wings. Prentiss grabbed Ried's arm and covered her mouth and closed her eyes.

"He drew a halo on her..." Rossie added then started to walk around the room. Morgan started investigating evrywhere else and JJ ran from the room. Reid touched Prentiss' hand then walked away from her and bravely to the body.

"Has anyone checked the blood for fingerprints?" Hotch asked the officer that had been brave enough to stay.

"Yes. He was very good with his work. The blood actually looks like he used a mixture of paintbrushes and his fingers. He used blood only from her neck."

"From the looks of her feet, he hung her up to bleed out then lay her here and drew the wings. there should be a bowl he used to hold her blood." Reid examined.

"Guys, over here." Morgan said from the bathroom. Reid and Hotch both went in. There was a very bloody bowl and a few brushes. Reid put on his gloves and picked up one of the brushes.

"Looks like a childs brush, one you could get at a store. No prints at all. " He put the brush down and started to look around. He stepped back into the bedroom," Where is the bed?"

"The father said that she was moving out and they had just moved her bed. She puts her blanket and pillow in the closet during the day." the officer read off the chart in his hand.

"Then she was awke and caught off guard in the daylight. There was no forced entry. She knew this man. We may have him. Morgan, call Garcia and have her cross referance old boyfriends as well as family members with the six deaths we had,just in case." Hotch ordered.

Somthing hit Reid's nose and he touched it then furiously wiped his nose and looked up," Why were we not warned about that!" He asked, pointing to words on the cieling. the team looked up.

"Hear the sound,The angels come screaming,Down your voice,I hear you've been pleeding, Make your choice." Rossie read the bloody words from above them as the teams hearts all sank.

"We thought it wouldn't be of importance. It wasn't dripping before." The officer stuttered. he was young and brave but he was still a rookie. Probably the one who had identified the song.

"Make your choice..." Prentiss whispered," what does that mean?"

Reid's eyes suddenly widened. There was something in the victims hands that had to be placed there before riggor mortis set in. _Make your choice... _The words rang in his head as he walked over to the body and pried each hand open to find two bloody photographs_._ Hotch glanced at them.

"Morgan, go get JJ, NOW!" Hotch yelled. Morgan leapt from the room and was gone in seconds. Reid just stared at the pictures in his hands. JJ and Prentiss. He wanted them to choose, and without even knowing they may have.

**Thanks to MCRmy soldier for your request. Hope you liked the use of it.**

**Thanks to MCRmy soldier, ReadingYourThoughts, NerdHerd27, and Livion for your reviews.**

**_Any song requests?_ If you think you have a song that the Playlist Reaper would use than say so in a review or PM me! I'l take a few requests. Leave name of Band and Song. Thanks!**

**Sorry for so many cliff hangers. This one shouldn't be that bad. :)**


	6. Friends

**Sorry it took so long . Christmas and all. Her's an update and I should be back on schedule. MCRmy soldier, I am so glad you liked it. I am very pround of that scene and now have a new song to love! Thanks for your Request.**

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

Reid looked around the house and sighed. There was no way they were going to find the girl in this big of a house before the fire took control.

_Take a right, Reid. _

_I don't need a voice in my head giving me directions. _

_Then go left._

_Don't try to confuse me._

_Then just do what you want._

Reid turned to the left and walked down a hallway. A beam fell out of the roof and he covered his face. When he looked up he was still in the same room. He sighed and held his gun in front of him as he stepped over the beam and opened the door.

_I told you to go right._

_Why?_

_Because this is That which you fear._

_What do I fear?_

He opened the door and saw the blonde with green eyes

"Save me, Spencer!" She cried. He blinked and Prentiss stood in front of him.

_You fear moving on and she's the key to that._

_What? Prentiss? How is she the key to me moving on?_

"I love you, Reid." Suddenly flames burst up behind her.

_I have to run!_

_By all means. I'm not stopping you._

For a moment he hesitated then he stood up and ran the other direction.

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Reid sat up and tried to catch his breath. The storm had let up and it was only drizzling so he stepped outside and walked down the sidewalk then back to his room, staying as close to the building as possible to keep the rain off. He pulled his black jacket tighter and glanced around him as he tried to clear his head. Somebody behind him touched his shoulder. He spun then let out a breath of relief

"Hey, Reid." Prentiss smiled," I saw you outside and I thought I would come out and make sure you're alright."

"I'm fine." He smiled," You want to go get some coffee?"

"Sure. Let's leave a message for JJ and Morgan."

They sat in the small 24 hour diner and talked across the booth like they were old friends. Three hours passed before they noticed how much time they were spending.

"About two hours before we are supposed to be awake." Prentiss smiled.

"Prentiss…" He cleared his throat, "Would you, ahem, uh…" She grabbed his shaking hand and stared into his eyes for a moment then leaned across the booth and kissed him lightly then leaned back and covered her lips.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I am so sorry." she looked down at her hand that wasn't still holding his. He squeezed it so she would look up.

"sorry because you kissed me, or sorry because you think I don't want you to kiss me?" She seemed to search his eyes then stood up.

"We should be getting back." He smiled and nodded. He stood up and handed some cash to the cashier then followed her fast pace out the door. She hugged herself in the rain.

"Are you cold?" He asked.

"Nah, I'm fine." He shrugged off his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders anyway, regretting wearing short sleeves under his coat. He put his hand over the scars on his arm from the drugs, still ashamed of the others seeing them. Prentiss had been the first one to notice he was acting wierd during his little problem.

"Reid and Prentiss, go and interview the best friend. She is closer to your ages but she is actually a lot like you, Reid." Hotch smiled then went on with his speech. Prentiss caught the keys that Morgan threw at her and grabbed her coat as she sped from the room. Reid hurried to catch up. This was the thing Prentiss was trying her hardest to avoid, time alone with him.

He climbed into the passenger seat and lay his head on the window as she started the car, "Are you ever going to talk to me again?" He asked as she pulled out of the hotel parking lot. Prentiss reached over and turned the radio on in answer. He sighed then closed his eyes and lisened to the song on the radio.

_Everywhere I'm looking now I'm surrounded by your embrace. Baby I can feel your halo…_

He smiled at the irony that a love song would come on right now. He kept his eyes closed so that she wasn't uncomfortable. He stayed still so long that he didn't even notice he had falled asleep. she shook him awake then got out before he was fully aware of what was going on.

She knocked on the door as he ran up behind her. A woman a little older than Hotch answered the door. She smiled," You must be the Federal agents."

"I'm Special Agent Emily Prentiss and this is Special Agent Dr. Spencer 're here to talk to your daughter about Sarah's murder." She introduced.

"Come on in." She moved out of the door," My daughter, Erin, will be down soon. Her appearance may be shocking. I told her not to fall for this new guy but he's a college student and she's eighteen now. I can't control a thing she does." the mother smiled and motioned to the seats," you don't mind if I go cook do you?"

"We don't mind." Prentiss smiled. Reid's eyes were drawn to movement on the stairs. A girl, about five foot four inches tall, came down the stairs. She had hair that was so multi colored that there was no guessing the base color. Reid turned his head and tried to seperate the colors. Purple, blue, brown, blonde, pink, red and green. Some was straight and some was crimped. She had on a purple shirt with a band name of some sort and skinny denim jeans.

"These the Special Agents?" She asked her mother. She chewed on her single lip ring which drew Reid's attention to the eyebrow piercing on the other side.

"Yes, this is... I'm bad at names." The mother smiled and Prentiss stood and walked to meet the girl in the doorway.

"I'm Special Agent Emily Prentiss and this..." She turned to geture to Reid but he had stood up behind her and she hit him in the chest," Uh, This is Special Agent Dr. Reid."

"Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"Actually,..." He started but a death glare from Prentiss made him stop," Uh, yes. I graduated early."

"That's pretty cool." she smiled then went and sat down on the seat opposite where they sat down. Prentiss tried to sit as far from him as she could.

"When we were called here, they said you had information for us about your friend, Sarah."

"Yes, I do. The Playlist Reaper... Hang on..." She hid her face for a moment then looked up again," I think he may be my boyfriend..." She stifled a sob then hid her face again.

"Why would you say that?" Reid asked, coldly. Prentiss looked at Reid with such a face that he phisically recoiled.

"Ok. Tell us everything you can." She whispered, touching Erin's knee.

"Well, I noticed how much he resembled your profile. I made a joke about it one night, actually. That was when I started to worry. He hated Sarah so much. I told him the joke and he said, ' I do have the perfect song.' Then he laughed that hollow laugh that I know when he's aggrivated and trying to hide it. I ignored it until we started going on double dates with Sarah to the movies." She looked out the window.

"What happened at the movies?"

"When we would see a death on the screen he would look at her then smile. I thought it was nothing until one day I saw him arguing with her in my living room. He had her backed against a wall and was whispering furiously to her face."

"Any idea why?"

"Well Sarah was one of those people that lived her life just to live it. she didn't go out of her way to aggrivate people but she didn't try not to. She was loud and obnoxious at times. She apologized a lot. she never wanted to aggrivate or be so loud. she was sweet but never step on her toes or she would step on yours. He didn't like how obnoxious she was but she was really just comfortable being herself everywhere."

"So, what happened?" Reid asked.

"He told me to stop being around her. I said no. I said he never had to be around her again."

"Did he see her after that?"

"No. I did. He yelled so much when I got home that mom sent him away. He apologised a while later and hasn't said a thing since, until a week ago... We were just sitting around and he said, 'I have the perfect song.' I said,' What?' meaning what are you talking about? He gets this wierd face and says,' Heaven Help Us. My Chemical Romance.' Meant nothing to me... until now."

"We'll take care of it. Are you still in contact with this boyfriend." Prentiss asked.

"Yes, I am. I talked to him yesterday."

"Did you blame him in any way? Provoke him?"

"No. We had a normal conversation. He actually sounded apologetic."

"How often do you see and contact eachother?"

"Everyday."

"Do that tonight. Act like nothing is wrong. Reid will stay here with you untill morning. Can you excuse us?" Prentiss pulled Reid out the door then turned to him," This may be our guy. Get more information on him from her then call Hotch. I'm going to go to the office and tell the others what's going on."

"Prentiss, Can we talk before you go?"

"Reid, not now."

"Prentiss, we have to talk some..."

"Reid! we are on a case!" She shouted. He shook his head then pulled her forcefully to him and kissed her passionatly. He pulled back," We need to talk." then he turned and went back in the touched her lips then walked slowly to the SUV. Reid turned and smiled at the girl on the seat then sat on the couch himself.

"So, tell me. What is this boyfriends name?"

**I hope you like the Reid/ Prentiss Matchup. I watched a video that took my breath away and I thought I should give it a try.**

**Thanks for reading! I love Reviews.**

**Thank you to MCRmy soldier, Rural and Nerd-Herd-27 for your reviews!**

**I am thinking of writing a FanFiction crossover combining the show Dexter and the show Criminal minds. If anyone is interested in reading it please inbox me and I'll write it. Thanks!**

**_Any song requests?_ If you think you have a song that the Playlist Reaper would use than say so in a review or PM me! I'l take a few requests. Leave name of Band and Song. Thanks!**


	7. Over And Over

**So sorry this took so long! I just got inspired again fro this and school Ugh! School! Anyway, hope I still have a few readers to enjoy the rest of this.**

**I do not own criminal Minds**

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><p>"It's so much easier to go , then face all this pain here on my own..." Linkin Park<p>

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><p>Garcia sighed over the phone. She could hear the girl and her mother wandering the house around the team as they sat in Erin's living room. They knew they couldn't leave but they had to see what they were up against and deal with it then.<p>

"I just don't like that she is so young. What if it is her boyfriend?Maybe you should go in another room." She whispered loudly.

"Well, don't let her hear you say that." Morgan chuckled.

"Why not?" Garcia chimed

"She'll probably kick your butt." Reid said from the recliner nearby

"Was that a joke? From Reid?" Garcia gasped. Everyone in the room started laughing.

"What is so funny?" Erin asked. She wasn't wearing her goth style clothes that she normally wore. She had no makeup on and her hair was faded and all hung straight. Instead of her normal flashy neon colors over black, she wore a grey dress. She smiled a lot but everyone could tell she was just hiding her pain. Her mother had said she wasn't one really to show her emotions.

"Reid made a joke." Morgan smiled.

"Really? That's new. What about?" She sat next to Morgan and smiled at him then Reid.

"Yeah, Reid, Tell her."Hotch said, reading some papers in front of him.

"Uh, it wasn't really that funny." Reid backpeddled. They all laughed again.

"Ok, Garcia, give us the good news." Morgan said, still smiling.

"Well, His Legal name is Jeff Harrisson but his birth name is Dale Harrisson. He has a brother, oh wait, had a brother named Dusty Harrison. Dissapeared about a year ago and was never found. They declared him dead about a month or so ago."

"That could be the trigger." Morgan said.

"I didn't know that. I know he has a sister. I met her last christmas. He never said a thing about his brother."

"How old was his brother?"

"About 15."

"Why was there no Amber alert?" Reid asked.

"There was but it was only in that area. They didn't think he had gotten too far. It dropped after a while."

"So anything else?"

"He had a run in with the police when he turned eighteen for tresspassing and attacking the person in the house. He plead not guilty but we see how that helped. "

"Nothing else? No other assult charges?"

"No. Nothing."

"So, Reid and Morgan stay here. Morgan, don't put anyone in any unessesary danger. Keep an eye on her and a tight eye if Jeff comes around. Do not attack him unless absolutly nessesary. There is no evedence to hold him yet. Reid, keep an eye on Morgan. One of you with Miss. Erin at all times. Rest of us, we are going to talk to Jeff and his family. Rossie and JJ go to the parents house. Prentiss and I will check out his place." Hotch stood and smiled at Erin," Morgan will keep you safe."

"I know he will." She hugged Morgan's upper arm and smiled.

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><p>Reid sat in front of the Television and huffed. Morgan looked over at him. He smiled at the younger man's posture. He had pulled his knees up to his chest and was resting his chin on them. Morgan wasn't sure how all of him fit in the chair.<p>

"What's wrong, Spencer?" Erin asked from the sofa where she and Morgan were seated next to Reid.

"We all know that the anthropologist did it." He sighed. He hated watching crime shows on Telivision because they were always so obvious. They never had any thought behind them. He looked over at the other two glareing daggers at him and flung his arms up," What?"

"Some of us didn't know that." Erin pouted. Reid gave her a shrug in a way of an apology.

"Dumb show anyway." Morgan said, flipping through the channels. He stopped on another show he liked and Erin smiled.

"Ugh! I've only seen five seconds and I know who did it!" Reid unfolded from his chair and walked into the kitchen.

"I am heading to bed. Night, Spencer." He heard Erin pronounce.

"I'll head up with you and stay in the room next door." Morgan said.

"Yeah, there is no way anyone will get past your room to get to mine." Erin replied as she climbed the stairs.

"Night, guys. I'll be down here. " Reid smiled, making a sandwich.

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><p><em>Don't go that way!<em>

"I have to!" Reid shouted, tears running down his face.

_You will regret this! I warn you! This is the end!_

"I don't care!" Reid covered his face with his arms and ran through the falling debri until he was at the door at the end of the hall. He flung the door open and ran to the woman in the middle of the flames before she even spoke. He wrapped his arms around her and covered her head as the oxygen fed the flames around him and engulfed them both.

_Noooooooooo! You can't do this!_

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><p>Reid jolted awake and wiped his face," I'm not crazy." He muttered to himself and threw the lap blanket off. The TV's volume was low so he couldn't hear what they were saying but he watched anyway. As he calmed down a noise above caught his attention and he muted the TV compleatly. Shuffling. In the room above him. He checked his watch.<p>

7:30 AM blinked up from the digital screen. Maybe Erin was waking up. He got stiffly from the chair and started up the stairs. He wiped his eyes groggily and stopped dead in his tracks at the top. The door to Morgan's room was wide open and reid could see the form of his friend lying on the floor. He stooped down and pressed fingers to Morgan's throat. There was a faint pulse.

He texted silently to Hotch

_Need Backup. Someone Here. Morgan Injured. Engageing. Come FAST. Reid._

Then he slowly stood and took his gun out and made it down the hallway. He shoved the door open and aimed the gun at a shadow crouched over Erin's limp form. Reid didn't take in all the blood or the words sprawled on the wall. All he saw was the blue eyes under the attacker's hood. Suddenly the person in black lept up and jumped out the window with such agility That Reid didn't even have time to speak. He ran to the window and watched the UnSub run down the street and hop in the back of a black van that drove off.

He turned back and started to tak in the scene. Erin's bed had been shoved to the left wall so she could be sprawled on the floor face up. Her arms were bent at the elbows so that her hands lay near her head where he had fanned her hair out. There was little blood around her pale form other than the still bleeding wrists. He knelt down and pressed both hands to the bloody slits and started to hyperventalate. this was such a familiar scene but this time the pain hadn't been self inflicted. He could see the soft rise and fall of her chest. He glanced at the wall and saw the thin writing. It was only half finished. Basically just outlined other than the first letter that had been darkened with her blood. She hadn't lost much yet. He had to close his eyes to keep from reading the words over and over agian.

**_Seasons Don't Fear the Reaper, Nor Do the Sun, Wind or Rain_**

The song echoed hollowly in his head as they merged with the sound of sirens and the flash of blue and red lights.

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><p><strong>Thanks to all my readers and my reviews. I lost track of who all reviewed the last chapter but I love you anyway! I'll mention you in the next chapter! Thank you for all the reviews and sorry for the wait!<strong>

**Any requests? Have a song for the Playlist Reaper! Send me a Review or PM me!**


	8. Challenge

**sorry this took so long also. I'm trying to keep up. I'm very busy this time of year. **

**Thank you for reading.**

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><p><em>"Is death the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening." Walter Scott<em>

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><p>Reid jolted awake and stared up blankly at Morgan," Hey, Kid. You alright?"<p>

"What?" Reid suddenly looked around and then gasped," Where is Erin!"

"Reid,what's going on?"Morgan searched Reid's eyes.

"Where is Erin?" He shouted.

"Upstairs. She's getting dressed for school. That's why I woke you. I'm heading with her and your going to meet up with Hotch at the station." He explained.

"She's ok... She's not hurt?" Reid made a whining noise in his throat and ran his hands shakily through his hair and scratched the back of his neck, letting his head hang.

"The nightmares are back, aren't they?" Morgan sat next to Reid and put a hand on his back. Reid just nodded. Morgan patted Reid's back then stood and walked into the kitchen. Reid's phone rang but he just tossed it to Morgan without a word. Morgan somehow knew to be there and catch it.

"This is Reid's phone but he can't answer so, this is Morgan." Morgan answered," Oh, hey Hotch. Yeah. I'll send him right over." He hung up and called to Reid," Hey. There's been another murder. It's wierd cause it's made to look like..." Reid put a hand up to cut him off.

"Suicide?" He asked even though he knew the answer.

"Yeah. can't place the song but JJ and garcia are on it. They want you to meet them there. I'm going to drive Erin to school. Take the SUV."

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><p>Reid drove to the location he had been given. It was already roped off when he got there. The gravel road led tp green shrubbery that made it hard to see the hidden crime scene and police cruiser, other than the flashing lights. Reid stepped under the crime tap and turned around the shrub to see a defleshed,bloody, skeleton of the upper half of a human body. There was a note wrinkled in the bone hands.<p>

"Hotch." Reid said as he aproached then he turned and dry heaved. Hotch lay a hand on his back.

"Are you alright?" He asked, I can call Rossi up."

"No." Reid wiped the drool off his mouth then put on some gloves," Have they gotten all they need?" He asked.

"Yes. It's all ours." Hotch said. Reid leaned over and picked up the note," Agent Hotchner," He read aloud," We braved these bitter storms together... But on his feet he died." Reid turned it over a few times, confused.

"It's a clue to the next murder." Hotch said.

"Or a clue to the next victim."Reid mumbled then leaned over again. He dipped the paper in the blood.

"What the hell is he doing?" The lead officer asked.

"Look at it!" Reid yelled. New letters had come up in bright yellow," The heat from the blood and the moisture made them come up."

Hotch rasied an eyebrow to the officer that scoffed and walked away," Can you read it?"

"Bang bang from the closet walls, from the schoolhouse halls, the shotgun's loaded... I'm done asking, I demand... I feel it's love like a cattle prod" Reid turned it a few times again then smiled," he's skipping lyrics. That's why there are of the letters are capital. Some are underlined Look."

_"b-A-ng bang from the c-L-oset walls, from the __schoolhouse __halls, the shotguns loaded...i'm done asking, -I- demand... i feel it's lo-V-e like a cattl-E- prod." _He read aloud.

"Alive." Hotch sighed then shook his head," A schoolhouse? Not his MO."

"This song is very popular in my group of kids I tutor at the high school. It mentions God a lot. Schoolhouses used to also ne churches. They were once one in the same. This could be a church in the area where he is keeping someone alive for us to find."

"I'll call Morgan. You!" He pointed to the head officer," Send officers to every church within a 300 mile radius. There may be a child involved."

"But Hotch, It's Sunday." Reid muttered. Hotch huffed and covered his eyes with his hand. Reid looked at the note, trying to find another clue.

"There are over twenty churches within that range!" A young officer exclaimed a little way away from them.

"Go!" The head officer ordered.

"Hotch. There is something else. The original note had capital letters also. Look." Reid pointed to the smearing letters under the vibrant orange ones.

"It's BayLine. BayLine." Hotch said it over and over then made eye contact with the head officer, motioning him over with two fingers," Does BayLine have any meaning to you?"

"No, sir. I don't recognise it. Is it a name?" The officer asked.

"I know BayLine." Said the younger officer. Hotch motioned him over.

"This is Officer Kory. He just transferred here." The head introduced. Kory shook their hands and sighed.

" I use to live on BayLine Street. There was a small church down that street but it's been closed for a while now." He scratched his head trying to remember,"I think they merged with another church but I'm not sure."

"That helps." Hotch took out his phone and called Garcia," Garcia, I need you to look up Bayline Church on BayLine Street and see if they have moved or merged with another church recently or if they just died out. Thanks." He hung up," Come on Reid. Officer Kory, take us to BayLine's original location."

**Thank you to lolyncut, MCRmy Soldier, epenusse and Tarja for reviewing.**

**Tarja, I hope you like how your request has gone and I hope my anonymous requester for _Don't Fear The Reaper _isn't mad that the song wasn't used in an actual murder.**

**If I haven't gotten to your request, I'm not ignoreing you. I have three songs on hold in request. I will not let you down! **

**Have a request for a song? I'll take them!**


	9. SchoolHouse

**This one is a bit long and I didn't really give anyone time to review the last one. Sorry. iI'm just on a roll with this one again. Hope you like it.**

**I think we are drawing closer to the killer.**

**So Excited! XD**

**I do not own criminal minds.**

"Reid actually knew the song?" Morgan said over the speaker phone in Hotch's hand.

"Yeah, it was Make it stop by Rise against. I've heard it a bit. Not my choice in song. This murderer has a wide range of songs. Most of them are angry and vengeful, but has anyone else moticed how different most of them are?" Reid read the list pf songs over again, writing in the last one by hand.

"What do you mean different?" Said Prentiss who was on speaker phone with Rossi on Reid's phone.

"At first I thought they were all songs an angry teenager would like. then I figured that Erin's boyfriend also fit the profile. Angry teens and adults fit now? That widens our range. Even though her boyfriend was with you when this last murder happened I wouldn't rule him out." Reid shook his head.

"Why not? He obviously didn't do it." Morgan said. He was sitting in the school parking lot waiting for Erin to get out.

"No. This one he didn't. We have a problem. I think it's more than one person. I was rereading the music list and looking at the pictures of the murders. There is always something in common but look at the huge differances. Women singers, men singers, Adult women dead, children dead, males dead. This is more than one murderer but they are connected. I think we are dealing with a cult of some sort." Ried rubbed his eyes.

"A cult? how many do you think are involved?" Rossi asked.

"The murders are so similar. If we rule out if the victim fights back then the murders are exact in almost every way." Prentiss added.

"But they aren't. The first song is one a younger person would listen to. Probably a young female but one that is fit. Very fit. That man would be much stronger than most females of that age and genre. He would even be stronnger than most males that age. I don't doubt that they have an adult leader of somesort to help them get thier victims, even if they commit the initial murder." Reid said as he read another file.

"The second murder looks like excessive force was used on a small girl. Could this be the leader?" Rossi asked.

"Probably not, the song used is fit for an older group but not as old as I would think the leader would be. I think that the leader only commited one murder. The very first one. The one that they found two victims before we were called in." Reid said.

"The one with the hanged man?" Hatch asked as he drove.

"Turn right." Officer Kory commanded.

"Yeah. All that one said was 'Follow me to the end'. We didn't even want to include it, other than it lead to the next death. It was so vegue. that could be a command or any song from the 2000's." Reid held onto the handle above his door as Hotch made a harsh left turn.

"So in one murder he is able to gather followers that are willing to kill repeatedly?" JJ asked over Rossie and Prentiss' end.

"No, I don't think they murder repeatedly. I think they each have to do one murder as a sort of initiation. I think the leader wanted our attention. What better way to get it than multiple murders? He teaches them how to murder and they do it all the same. " Reid shook his head again, the migrane slowly creeped up the base of his skull.

"We're here." Prentiss said as they pulled into the parking lot of the new location of BayLine church. Reid looked up and saw that he and Hotch had reached the old location as well.

"We'll talk after. Be careful." hotch ordered, then disconnected the phone. Hotch got out first and oulled out his gun. Reid got out and went around behind the vehicle, touching Hotch's shoulder," Reid?" He whispered.

"Listen." Reid whispered. The sound of a guitar could be heard over an intercom inside. The lyrical part was hard to hear once it started.

_**"Dead as dead can be,"my doctor tells me but I just can't believe him,ever the optimistic one...**_

"Come out with your hands up!" Hotch shouted. when no one answered he made hand motions for Reid and Office3r Kory to circle the entrance.

_**and I'm sure of your abilityto become my perfect enemy...**_

Reid ducked down in front of the door as Hotch reached from beside it and swung it open. Reid charged in followed by officer Kory and hotch, each one's guns going different ways. Reid went right down the hallway to the front and Officer Kory went into the hallway to the left.

_**Wake up and face me don't play dead cause maybe...**_

Hotch ducked down a hallway to thier left and Reid continued to a door at the end of his hallway. There was a polaroid taped to it of an arrow. Reid opened the door and turned to the left, saw it was a dead end, and turned to the right, the way the polaroid pointed. There was another split off and a polaroid that pointed down the hallway. He checked the other way and saw it was clear and a locked door before he followed the arrow.

_**Someday I will walk away and say," You dissapoint me," maybe you're better off this way...**_

The music grew louder as he moved down the hall. He picked up his walkie talkie," Hotch.' He whispered.

"Reid." he got the answer moments later.

"I've got pictures." Reid muttered, gun still in front of him as he came to a big wooden door.

"I do too. Arrows?" Hotch asked.

_**Leaning over you here, cold and catatonic...**_

"I have pictures too." Said Officer Kory.

"Be careful. Look before you shoot." hotch answered.

"Have you been listening to the lyrics?" Officer Kory asked," I think they may be watching us."

"Just be careful and don't freak out."

_**I catch a brief reflection of what you could and might have been...**_

Reid wiped the sweat of his forhead and opened the doors, pointing his gun to his right then his left. The music was overwhelmingly loud in the large dark room. He walked forward and hit something that was about waist high. He felt it with one hand, gun wtill up in front of him.

"Hotch." He said, trying to be quiet but be heard over the music.

"Here."

"I'm in the sancturary, I think. I just ran into a pew." reid looked around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness.

_**It's your right, and your ability to become...**_

Reid ducked behind the pew when he saw movement in the shadows," Who's there! Come out!"

Suddenly there were multiple voices singing with the one over the speaker.

_**MY PERFECT ENEMY! WAKE UP! (We'll catch you)**_

"Hotch! Their here." He tried to quietly say into his walkie talkie.

_**AND FACE ME (Come on now)**_

The intercom backed the singers up, coming out quieter now in the background.

_**DON'T PLAY DEAD (Don't play dead)**_

Reid heard a door burst open and saw a beam of light search the room and then he saw a shadow in the beam. reid stood and pointed his gun at the shadow in the beam but used his flashlight to search the room for others. there was only a girl standing on the middle of the pews, hands up and grinning, still singing with the music.

_**CAUSE MAYBE (Because maybe) SOMEDAY (Someday I'll) WALK AWAY, AND SAY," YOU DISSAPOINT ME" MAYBE YOUR BETTER OFF THIS WAY.**_

Hotch stepped forward and she stood still just letting the music continue on it's own. She turned and faced Reid, smiling. Hotch pulled one of her hands down but before he could cuff her she stuck that hand in her pocket and spun away and lifted her hands to show she didn't have a weapon, but another picture in her hand.

"Stay were you are." Hotch ordered over the music.

_**Maybe you're better off this way. Maybe you're better off this way.**_

"You can arrest me, agent Hotchner, but you may want this." She held the picture up.

"Turn around and put your hands on your head and get down on your knees." hotch ordered even louder. She smiled and did as she was told. hotch cuffed her and forced her to stand," Are there any others here?"

"No. Just me. " She answered. He pulled her to her feet and walked her out.

"Officer Kory, are you alright?" Reid asked as he walked behind Hotch, still watching around them, his gun at his side.

"Yeah, heading out. I have something you guys need to see." Another police cruiser had pulled up while they were inside and Hotch lowered the girl into it.

Officer Kory came out and handed a picture to Reid. Reid took it and held it up. It was Erin in front of the church. It couldn't be that long ago. Her boyfriend was standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders and there were three other people Reid didn't recognise, the girl they had just arrested and then Reid's heart froze.

"Hotch!" Reid exclaimed. hotch calmly walked over and looked at the picture in Reid's hand.

"Isn't that..?" Reid asked pointing at the girl on Erin's right.

"It's Grey." Hotch answered, then held up the picture he had been given by the girl in the car. It was all the same people but three more had been added.

"Wait, I know that one." Reid said, pointing to a girl that was in the first and not the second.

"She was the girl that was murdered. Sarah. Erin's best friend. This first picture must be the original followers and thiese must be the newest editions. Seven people. There haven't been this many murders." Hotch looked at all the faces in each of the pictures.

"How did you get that!" the girl screamed from the back of the unit car.

"What are you talking about?" Hotch went over to her and opened the door.

"Where did you get that picture?" She asked.

"Officer Kory found it." Reid answered, walking up behind Hotch.

"That son of a... I can't believe he chickened out! The one will get him for this! Cowardice is the worst thing you can do. He looks down on cowards!" the girl spat. She wasn't much younger than Reid himself.

"What are you talking about?" Hotch asked.

"If he betrayed me then I'm going to betray him. the only way out of the church, other than the front door, is the back door. He will run into the woods when you drive away. We were told if you started shooting that we had to hide then when you left we were to run to the woods." She said. Hotch slammed the door and hit the top for the officer to drive away.

hotch motioned for the other two to get in the SUV. He drove out of the parking lot and continued down the road then turned into the trees and drove back up to the back of the church, stopping out of hearing distance of the church. They all split up and waited. A young man opened the door cautiously and then made a run for it. He was able to dodge Kory and then run right past Hotch. Reid lept from the trees and hit the boys waist. He was only about seventeen or eighteen and was about the size of Reid.

Reid's feet slid out from under him as he grabbed the boy, causing him to fall on his back and pull the boy to the ground. the boy elbowed him in the chest but when Reid let go he grabbed the boy's foot, causing him to fall over, but Reid was kicked in the face. The boy tried one more time to run but this time Hotch's foot in the middle of his back and a gun pressed to the back of his head, stopped him.

"Please don't hurt me! I didn't want to! they have my sister! I didn't want her to be part of this alone! I did it for her!" The boy yelled.

"Is your sister the one we arrested?" Hotch asked as reid sat up and doubled over.

"No. They still have her." Hotch let him sit up but made a point of showing him the gun before showing him the picrture.

"Which one is she?" Hotch asked.

"That one." A girl about foot taller than Erin. She had bright red hair pulled up in a bun on top of her hair.

"We have to arrest you." Hotch said. the boy nodded and let them take him to the station. On the ride, hotch called Prentiss," Anything up there?"

"No. There's a song playing but nothing else. It seems to be on a loop. Oh wait. Its just stopped." Prentiss said.

"Prentiss, is anyone inside!" Reid asked.

"Yeah, JJ and a few officers. they said it wasn't rigged."

"Have they found the device playing the music?" Reid asked worridly.

"Oh God! JJ! You! Officer, get everyone out!" They heard her yelling. they could hear her running. Reid's heart seemed to stop as he held his breath. They heard muffled sounds of her running and talking. suddenly there was a lot of static. The noise was too much for the phone speaker to pick up.

The line went quiet then there was the sound of coughing. There was quiet muttering then shuffling. Reid felt like he was going to pass out when there was finally a voice on the other end.

"It was rigged but nothing serious." Prentiss said, caughing a few times," Just blew out a wall. No fire, just smoke. We're fine. Rossi, jj and I are alright." Reid heard a collective sigh from everyone in the vehicle as they pulled into the station.

Reid took Hotch's phone and smiled to hotch, turning off the speaker phone, going to talk in private," Prentiss."

"Reid? "She asked.

"Yeah it's me. I'm coming, is that alright?" he asked, voice shaking

"Yeah. They're going to check us out here to see if anyone needs to go to the hospital. I should be here when you arrive." She sighed.

"Alright. I'll be right there." he took the phone back to Hotch," I'm going to meet them. You're ok alone?" He asked Hotch.

"Yeah. I'll question them each in turn, then get back to you later. Call Morgan. he'll need to know we are alright." Hotch nodded then went inside the building as Reid went to the large vehicle.

"I have never driven one of these before." He sighed then climbed in.

**lolyncut I see what you mean... there are a lot of murders hapening. I just was thinking maybe I should make this murderer a little harder to catch. The episodes have them saolving the murders so fast. I thought maybe this time I should give them a run for thier money!**

**Oh and by the way, most of the songs are requests and songs my friends recommend. I don't normally listen to this type of music either, so don't feel bad. I take requests of any kind! LOL! and I don't think you're old... even though I've never met you, seen you or had a real conversation with you...**

_**Any requests? Drop me a line before it's too late! Mwahaha!**_


	10. Interrogate

**Trying to get my many requests in order here. I love all the response I'm getting/ have gotten for this story. thank you all so much!**

**If i haven't gotten to your request yet, I'm not ignoring you, just a little backed up. I sort of put two requests into this one.**

**This one may be a little** **hard to understand. It's late and I may have also messed up the grammer. I don't know. the concept is there.**

**Any questions, PM me.**

**Wow, these chapters just keep getting longer and longer!**

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><p><em>"Let me tell you about my team. Agent Morgan faught to protect his identity from the very people who could save him, Why? Because trust has to be earned and there are very few people he truly trusts. Reid's intillect is a shield which protects him from his emotions and at the moment his sheild is under repair. Prentiss overcompensates because she doesn't yet feel she's part of the team. She needn't worry. Every day Agent Jareau fills dozens of requests for our team and every night she goes home hopeing she's made the right choices. Garcia fills her office with figurines, and color to remind herself to smile as the horror fills her screens and Agent Gideon is in his way damned by his profound knowledge of others which is why he shares so little of himself yet he pours his heart into every case we have. I stand by my actions and I stand by my team and if you think that you can find a better person for the job... good luck."<em> ~ Agent Hotchner

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><p>Reid ran up and hugged JJ," I'm glad you're alright." He muttered.<p>

"You too. Prentiss is ove sitting on the ambulence. They are bandaging her head. Small cut. Nothing major." she pulled away and smiled.

"I'll see you in a bit." He smiled and walked over to where Prentiss was. She saw him and stood up, almost knocking over the peramedic and letting the blanket fall. She ran and leapt up into his arms, almost knocking him over in a hug. He stumbled then wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been so mean!" She hugged him so tight he had troubles getting breath. He smiled and cleared his throat so she would let go. He held her waist so she wouldn't move away from him.

"It's ok. I made you nervous and made work hard for you. I should be sorry." He said," I'm glad your ok." He hugged her again, a little less agressivly. She grabbed his hand and walked back over to the paremedic.

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><p>Reid walked into the room and looked through the window into the interrogation room. He could see through the two way mirror that the girl they had arrested was quietly humming to herself. She was smiling like she was just here to talk. Hotch opened the door ans went in with the girl, slowly sitting down.<p>

"I'm Agent Hotchner, but I assume you know that." He said.

"I do. I also know you plan to use me to catch him." She smiled at Hotch and leaned back in her chair.

"No, we don't, really. I just have a few questions." He said, calmly.

"No. I don't want to answer your questions." She stood up slowly and walked over to the one way mirror and smiled," I want you, Dr. Reid." Reid jumped back, even though he knew he couldn't be seen. She was just guessing he was there. Assuming.

"What if Dr. Reid doesn't want to come in?" Hotch asked lightly, as if it didn't matter.

"Oh he does. He does. I have a secret for him, about his friend. Erin. Yeah. And I have a lot more." She turned and walked back over to where Hotch sat and leaned down to his ear, whispering something. Hotch suddenly stood up and left the room, much to the girl's amusement. He burst into the room they were in moments later.

"Reid, come here." Hotch demanded. When he came over Hotch put a hand on his shoulder and turned so they were looking away from the others.

"What's going on?" Reid mumbled.

"She says that if she doesn't talk to you then the girl they have will die... and Erin will be the one to do it. I need to call Morgan and make sure he is still with Erin. Go in and act normal. Ask her the questions. see what she wants to tell us. I'll come in later and try to force as much out of her as I can." Hotch nodded and Reid left without glancing back at the other three in the room.

The girl was sitting again when he entered but her smile brightened when Reid walked in and sat down," I have a few questions." Reid muttered to himself, looking at the papers in his hands.

"Alright."

"Which murder did you commit?" Reid risked a glance up at her and she smiled.

"The one with the pictures in her hands. Like my art? He said I had gone overboard. Took too long to do it. I don't think so. It was perfect. By the way you don't have to worry about your lady friends. We just wanted you to back off a bit. The song was meant for something else." She smiled at him and touched his hand reassuringly. He pulled it back and scratched his head.

"Heh, uh... what was it meant for?" He asked.

"Oh, you'll see. you'll see." She looked down at her hands and seemed to slump slightly.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Yeah. You'll see. It should be here any moment. I just want you to know, when the time comes, I want you to do it." She nodded at her hands in her lap then went silent.

"Want me to do what?" He asked. She shook her head," Did you do it all by yourself, or did you have help?" He tried.

"By myself." She muttered quietly.

"Really? You're strong. I wouldn't have been able to hang her up. She was dead when you hung her right?"

"Yeah. She was dead when I hung her and slit her throat." she sniffed and he tried not to studder.

"I w-wouldn't have been able t-to lift that much. You look so much tinier than me." he smiled weakly but she didn't look up to see.

"Size doesn't matter." She started chipping her nailpolish off. The door opened and Prentiss came in, leaning over him and whispering in his ear.

"Another package. Come on." she rubbed his shoulder then walked out. He stood and gathered his papers but was grabbed by the wrist before he could leave.

"Dr. Reid, promise me when the time comes, you'll do it." Tears had welled up in her eyes as she stared up at him.

"I don't know if I can promise that." He stammered.

"you have to. I don't want it to be Agent Morgan or Hotchner. They are just..." she let him go and slumped away.

"I-I promise." Then he turned and rushed out and to the room the others were in. There was a small package on the table. Hotch picked it up when Reid entered and handed it to him.

"You noticed the invisible ink on the other letter, is there anything on this one?" Hotch asked. Reid looked it over very closely for a few minutes and then handed it to Hotch, shaking his head.

Hotch opened one end and pulled out a DVD. Reid bit his lip and jumped when Prentiss took his hand. He glanced down at their intertwined fingers and then smiled at her. Hotch put the DVD in the player nearby and Morgan wheeled thetv over to the end of the table so they could all sit, and they did.

The video started with the original report JJ gave when they started the investigation, then music started. Clips of the whole team started to flow across the screen, but all the clips were skewed sideways and cut off at the chin or neck so that only the abdomins of the team could be seen, like a strange music video.

A clip of the team standing in a line at a news conferance came up. It was cut off but not skewed to the the song started words scrolled across the screen.

The BAU team tries so hard...

"What song is that?" Hotch asked.

"Meant to live by Switchfoot." JJ answered.

And knows so much...

Can it make the right choice? 

The skewed clips came back up and another song started.

This is for you, Agent's Hotchner, Reid, Morgan, Rossi, Prentiss, JJ and Garcia. 

A freeby. Song: AfterLife by Avenge SevenFold

The song hit it's lyrical part and Reid jumped when he could hear his own voice in the back ground of the music saying something to the effect of 'No comment' and the other's voices were mixed in. Occassionaly there were words on the screen, as if telling a story.

_**Cause we've been waiting for you**_

Then it showed Hotch bringing the girl into the station. There hadn't been any reporters. No one filming.

"This was them! They filmed this!" Reid exclaimed, Then it had JJ and Prentiss' feet standing on a gravel road talking to eachother. Reid recognised their shoes. JJ moved away and he heard her speaking frantically but couldn't understand through the music. Suddenly she burst into a dead run the way JJ had gone.

_**You'll be back soon anyways, this peace on Earth's not right.**_

Then there was debri flying everywhere and smoke. the scene cut away and showed Morgan sitting outside the school in a small green prius, since Reid had taken the SUV. He was tapping on the door and singing to himself but it was from above and they could only see his arm.

_**With our backs against the wall, no Pain no sign of time, we're much too young to fall.**_

Make a choice Scrolled across the screen and there was a blip of something else. Reid covered his mouth to keep from being sick as another clip came up of him. It was Prentiss running up and hugging him, cutting off their heads. the problem was that the camera followed her from the ambulence into his arms. There was someone holding it.

_**When I think of places I don't belong I come to grips...**_

Then the screen went black and big red letters scrolled across the screen

_**WITH LIFE AND REALIZE THIS IS GOING TOO FAR...**_

Then there were two short blips and then the word Choose. and the movie cut off. Morgan turned to Reid.

"What did you see, Kid?" He asked.

"You didn't see it?" He practically shouted.

"No, our minds don't work as fast as yours." JJ said softly.

"The clips that went by too fast were either of the girl we have in custody or of a girl tied to a chair. He want's us to choose between them." reid rubbed his face with his free hand.

"Between as in let her go they let the hostage go?" Morgan asked.

"No. They want us to kill her or they kill the girl." Reid answered so quietly they almost didn't hear.

"How would you get that out of the video?" Morgan asked, frustrated. reid glared at him.

"I didn't. When I left the room with the girl, who surprizingly still remanes unnamed, she made me promise. she said,'Promise you'll be the one to do it.' I put two and two together. They say choose. They sent her here as a pig to slaughter." Reid covered his eyes with his free hand.

"We need to talk to her." Hotch said.

"I'll do it. I know what to ask her now." Reid stood up, Prentiss standing with him, him leading her without even realizing it. They got to the door and she turned him to face her.

"It'll be ok. We'll figure this out." she touched his face lightly then he walked into the interrigation room alone.

"Dr. Reid." the girl said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Call me Spencer." he said, sitting down.

"Spencer. I'm Angelica." She said, wipeing her eyes.

"Angelica, I won't kill you." Reid stated calmly.

"You have to. That girl..."

"Will die if you don't help us. I will not shoot you." Reid nodded to himself.

"This is the only way." She muttered.

"No, it's not. Angelica, why did he send you? Why not someone else?" Reid asked, trying to catch her eyes. she didn't look up," Please help me, Angelica."

"If I tell you all of that you won't be able to save her." Angelica sneered.

"I don't care about you, I care about her! Please tell me what you know so i can save a helpless, scared little girl get away from a psycho planning to kill her!" Reid shouted, his voice choked with tears.

"He isn't a psycho, I love him and he is a genius!"She shouted.

"That's why you killed for him?" Reid asked. she sighed and sat back in her chair.

"I fell in love with him about a year and a half ago. he said he was starting this movement. Based everything on uplifting music and praise to God. We all thought it was wonderful. I loved him. then he started to brainwash the others. he started telling them things , just to see if they would listen. They did..." She looked down.

"When did the murders start to happen? Why?" Reid whispered.

"He wanted us to follow him unconditionally. He killed a man that tried to hurt Erin. Her boyfriend was with us at the time but still skeptical. After the first murder he became bloodthirsty and earned more followers." She looked at the window.

"They don't have to be there, if you only want me to hear." Reid said.

"I'm a little embarrassed. I killed Sarah because he had fallen for her. He was slowly gravitating to her and I couldn't stand it. He had already had two of us murder to show loyalty, teaching us how to do it the way he would so you wouldn't see the differance. I convinced him Sarah was turning against us. He believed me but forced me to kill her. I went overboard with the angel wings because I was scared of what he was becomeing, what I was becomeing and what both of us could be convinced of. "

"So you didn't want to kill her?" Reid touched her hand that was on the table, much like she had done his earlier, but she didn't flinch away.

"Oh, I did. so bad. But then I relized that it wasn't me. He had brainwashed all of us to be jelous for him. I don't love him that much. He started to see it. He told me I had to be arrested for his plan to work. I found out through the others that he was going to make you kill me. I want it to be you because I know at least you'll feel some remorse for me as a person. the others would feel bad but not like you. Please. I'm scared." Tears started falling down her face in steady streams.

"How old are you, Angelica?" Reid asked softly.

"I'm sixteen." they both jumped when something hit the two way window from the other side. Reid knew it was Morgan throwing a fit. Sixteen was really young.

"Can you tell us where we need to go to get this girl?" Angelica shook her head no," Can you tell us her name?"

"Her name is Layla. She is sixteen also. " Angelica nodded as if correcting herself.

"Can you tell me who everyone is in this picture?" Reid lay the first picture in front of her.

"Erin, Jeff, Mary, me, Sarah, James and Grey." She pointed to each in turn.

"What about this one." He put the second up to her, somehow he had ended up witting next to her, thier shoulders touching. this was dangerous but he needed her to cooperate.

"Erin, Jeff, Mary, me, James, Andy, River, Louis. We took a new one when Sarah and... And grey had been killed." She shook her head and wiped her eyes.

"You were close to Grey?" Reid asked, leaning close to her like a father talking to a young child. He wrapped his arm around her as she started to sob.

"He loved me, I couldn't see it until it was too late. I killed for HIM! When i killed Sarah I lost Grey forever!" she broke down compleatly and started crying loudly. Reid hugged her closer for a moment then stood slowly to leave," Spencer!" He looked down at her," I don't want to die for him!"

"I won't let you. We're going to catch this son of a bitch." reid's voice broke and he turned and left without another word.

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><p><strong>O.O I made Reid curse! sorry if you don't like the language, I just thought it fit.<strong>

**Thank you to Tarja, lolyncut, Nymphadora-CullenBAU, MCRmy Soldier and Kira for your lovely reviews!**

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_if I have enough extra requests I may make a sequel but shhh! It's a secret! LOL_


	11. Sign of Death

**I'm back! And so are the Criminal Minds Gang. Coming to a close. Any last requests?**

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><p><em>"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Sir. Winston Churchill<em>

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><p>"So, there isn't much on any of these people on my database. They have no records what so ever. I found that one of them in the first image that is not in the second was injured in a car wreck and that is probably why she was dropped from the group. She is deaf from the explosion and loud noises still set her off." Garcia said over the open line.<p>

"When was this wreck?" Hotch asked.

"It was about at the halfway point of our investigation. She was hurt but the driver was killed because she crawled away before the car exploded. It wasn't a normal explosion. The witnesses said it was abnormally large and may have been an explosive. The police ruled it as an accident." Garcia typed furiously on her keyboard.

"Does she have any siblings?" Rossi asked.

"Yes. An older brother, in his early thirties, that stayed at her side during her main name is Brendon and he was a straight A student in high school that just dropped off the grid." Garcia read.

"So that could be the gap in his murders. Why wouldn't he just let the others continue?" Prentiss asked. They sat around the in the police station conferance table with Reid turned with his back mostly faceing Prentiss, Prentiss' hand on top of his on the table. Rossi stood at one end of the table and leaned on the wall behind him and Morgan sat, on leg propped up on Rossie's chair, to Rossi's direct right, opposite Prentiss. JJ sat to Morgan's right with her head down on the table. Hotch sat at the other end with his fingers laced together in front of him as his head hung over the papers on the table.

"This guy needs the others to crave his approval to continue to make them blindly follow him. He needs them to crave him so badly that they can't live without him. He has to be present at every murder and gives them a grade on their performances. When he went into mourning he made them go into mourning. That would explain the absense of them killing." Reid said in an almost bored voice.

"Is the brother in the photos?" Hotch asked.

"No, sir. I have a picture of him from his high school years. There is not much on him from there because he didn't get a job or even go to college. His parents have let him stay at their home. He left about a month after his sister's release from the hospital." Garcia sighed.

"We have been chasing him for three weeks now, with a month repreive and over seven murders. This is worse than homocide. It borders genocide. He's wiping out something. What is it?" JJ asked.

"He could just be killing people he doesn't like." Morgan shrugged, crossing his ankles on Rossi's chair.

"Why would he form a group to kill someone he didn't like? Wouldn't he hunger to do it himself? Since he seemed to over enjoy the first murder? " Rossi put his hands on the table and hung his head in thought.

"Maybe he gets his high off of the soiling of others. Making them just as guilty as he is." Prentiss said.

"That would hint at some remorse for something that he still hasn't forgiven himself or been forgiven for." Reid added, leaning his chair back.

"The bombing, maybe." JJ said.

"No, that happened after two of his followers murdered. Garcia, see if he has any criminal record for his teen years or even if there was some accident in those years between him turning ten to age eighteen." Hotch ordered.

"Yes, My Lord." Garcia answered as she started the search,"The year he turned fifteen there was a drowning in a lake in the woods behind his house. The boy was not in Brendon's close group of friends. He left the lake about an hour before the body was found. He went home and told his parents that he had seen a drowning but was afraid to say anything until then. The boy was dead on site and the case went cold. No one was charged."

"That could mean he feels guilty for the drowning." Reid said.

"Or he commited it. He may have been playing and accidently killed the boy. No other witnesses were brave enough to come forward. He may have even found a few of them and made them followers out of fear."Morgan added, the senario playing out in his mind.

"That would be the ultimate way to clense himself. To make others like him. In his world he is cleansing them by making them and himself all the same." JJ said quietly.

"Get them to follow your cause then make them willing to do anything, show them what you would do for them, tell them they will be cleansed of something they did." Prentiss added.

"That would imply that they all have some deep dark secret that they feel is worse than murder." Reid muttered, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"Well, there are some sketchy characters here." Garcia said," Grey was not just a college student who was tricked. He was tricky. There were a lot of complaints at his college. They complained their room keys were swiped by him. They couldn't prove it. Later they would reach for a full coin jar for lunch that day and it would be gone and some other small things. Never more than one item and nothing identifiable. Jewlery, small rings and earrings that could be from an outlet store. Thing they could have just misplaced."

"Grey?" Reid asked.

"Yes. He had slippery fingers but was never prosecuted. Angelica, that you have in custody,accidently tripped her cousin and he fell down the stairs. It ruined his soccer career and he lost many scholarships. It was in their local newspaper. She also was engaged to Brendon for a year." Garcia sighed again.

"So that fits Angelica's story. We need to talk to the sister." Prentiss said.

"Reid, can you read sign language and speak it, or do we need a translator?" Hotch asked.

"I can speak it. No translator needed." When he just smiled and didn't embark on a large story that would waste their precious time, they all were caught off guard.

"So, Reid, Prentiss, and I will go see the sister. Garcia, is there any of the others adresses?" Hotch asked.

"Well, it was a monsterous task, with only first names and vegue photos, BUT I have succeeded." She tapped a few keys," Mary Wothington lived about three blocks away from Brendon but after a fight with her uncle, she ran off and hasn't been seen. She has called her parents almost every day."

"Rossi, Morgan, JJ go see Mary's parents and see if they can tell us where any of the others or their daughter is." Hotch nodded and stood. They all went into motion to collect their things and go about their duties assigned to them.

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><p>Hotch drove, like always, and Reid sat in the back seat with Prentiss in the passenger seat. Prentiss looked out the window as they drove and Hotch was on the phone. He nodded and hung up.<p>

"They are almost at Mary's parents. What do you think about this sister, Reid?" Hotch looked momentarily in the rearview mirror at Reid then back to the road.

"I just got some information on your tablet, its awful to read on this thing. She is deaf but still must have loyalties or fear of her brother because she didn't tell anyone he was the one who was doing the murders. She might freak out when she sees we are FBI." Reid nodded at the tablet.

"Then we need vests on. Put them under your jackets so she can't see them before hand. She may be dangerous. We never split up. Understood? We are digging into a potential unsubs life, a dangerous one. She may be very loyal to him." Hotch sighed. It had been a while since he had to talk to his team members like this. Like they were new recruits, but he could tell reid was scared and Prentiss was even a little spooked. This case was one of the hardest they had ever encountered. A serial, almost mass, murderer.

The house was small and pleasant to the eye. One story two bedroom, probably one bath. The light blue shutters and white curtains gave it a homey feeling. reid had put his vest under his shirt against his bare skin and was trying not to mess with it as they walked to the front door. Hotch rang the bell and a woman in a white shirt and jeans, a little older than Hotch himself, answered the door, opening it wide so they could see the white carpet and green or blue furniture.

"Hello." She smiled.

"Hello, I'm Special Agent Aeron Hotchner, This is Special Agent Emily Prentiss and Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid." They shook her hand in turn," And we are with the FBI. We have a few questions for your daughter."

"It's about Brendon, isn't it? Oh, he wasn't murdered by that Playlist Reaper, wasn't he?" Her face paled and she almost looked sick.

"No, Ma'am. Just a few questions for your daughter." Hotch put his hand up to show no harm.

"Well, You do know she is deaf. She is learning Sign Language but isn't great." The mother glanced behind her," And she is in the back rehearsing for her recital. We were so happy she was allowed to stay in it." The mother smiled.

"Dr. Reid can speak in sign language and guess anything else she needs to say. She is not in trouble and we can wait until she is done." hotch said and Reid smiled.

"Oh, then come on in." She smiled and moved out of the way of the door. Reid was the last in and turned to the woman.

"Uh, when you open your door, I would suggest hiding part of your body behind the door and not opening it so far so that potential attackers would be less inclined to try to overcome you and take your fancy things." He smiled and followed the other two. He gave Prentiss' glare a questioning look and she sighed, throwing her hands in the air.

In the next room a man was sitting in a chair facing a girl. She was tall with black hair and a cream colored dress. She had her eyes closed and headphones on her neck and held the earpieces to her neck and took a breath. There was a microphone in front of her that wasn't plugged in. The woman pulled up a chair and motioned for Hotch to sit then she turned the love seat around for Reid and Prentiss.

The girl took another breath as Reid sat down and started to sing in a high pitched voice, with a soft hint of a whisper even though she projected through the room. She sang to the microphone as if she were just breathing, she was so comfortable in front of it.

"She was trained by the best to be able to sing without her ears. She feels the pitches of the music through vibrations in the headphones. She explains it as feeling the sound through her vocal cords. she can see a C and hit it almost perfectly without aid." The mother said.

"Absolute pitch , or perfect pitch, is the ability to name or reproduce a tone without reference to an external standard. Most with Absolute Pitchcan name a tone they have heard without aid of a standard being set. They can also perfectly match said pitch with their voice without ever having heard the pitch set to another pitch or standard." Reid said then smiled, trying not to be a know it all, but failing miserably.

"I didn't know deaf persons could do it. She sound beautiful." Hotch smiled to the father who nodded. The girl suddenly stopped then took a deep breath and held a high, but pleasant note then stopped and smiled. Without opening her eyes she started to sign.

" She says,' Mom, who are the people with you?' " Reid translated. The mother stood and touched her daughters arm. The girl opened her eyes, big brown eyes, and smiled then her eyes averted to look at her mother's hands as she gestured to each of the agents then introduced them in turn.

"Agents, this is my daughter Brenda." The woman introduced then Brenda shook each of their hands. Prentiss leaned over to Reid and whispered to his ear.

"There wasn't a Brenda in the photos." She whispered.

"I know." He whispered back to her then he translated for Hotch and Prentiss," She says,' It's nice to meet you. Is there something wrong?' I'll answer her." Reid started to sign to her and speak as he did,"We just have a few questions. Is there somewhere you would be more comfortable sitting and talking to us?"

She pinched her index and middle finger to her thumb. They all knew that meant no. Reid nodded to Hotch. He would translate Hotch and Prentiss' questions quietly for Brenda while they asked and interpret her for them. She pulled a chair up to face them and the parents turned their chairs to face the agents so they were all in a cirlce.

"Brenda, have you talked to your brother in a while?" Hotch asked. She watched Reid's hands then signed something sloppily to her mother who nodded and left the room, soon followed by her father.

"She asked for some private room to speak to us." Reid said.

"Have you seen or talked to him since your accident?" Hotch asked. She pinched her fingers.

"Where did he go?" Prentiss flicked both her hands, fingers down, like she was sweeping something away and then a few other signals. Her sentences were choppy like someone who didn't know how to use grammer.

"Abandoned. Us to... live on our own... when I hurt in the wreck... When I was hurt in the wreck. Felt bad for hurting me." Reid tried to translate after a few times he could fill the gaps.

"So he just left you?" Prentiss asked. She knocked the air twice with her fist to indicate yes," He stayed with you during recovery so he cared a lot for you. Why did he leave you?" Brenda tucked her hair behind her ear and ran a finger across the white bandage that covered her jawline.

"He tried so hard to care for me but the others needed him more." Reid translated.

"Who are the others?" Hotch asked.

"He had a group of friends that he helps outside of church. They..." Reid stopped as she bit her lip and thought of the sign for the word she needed," They need medical care and help with their families. Sometimes he raises money for them."

"How old was the youngest of your friends?" Hotch asked.

"Do you memorise these questions before you come in? Sit in the car and rehearse them." She asked. Reid smiled and pinched his fingers to signal No.

"How old?" Hotch asked again.

"The youngest was eighteen. I say kids because they seem so young and fragile when I met them." Reid looked at Hotch and Hotch nodded slightly.

"How old was the oldest?" Prentiss asked.

"About twenty three." She nodded," Yes twenty three."

"Has he contacted you in any way or have any of the others?" Hotch asked.

" No. They haven't. After the crash they all left." Brenda signed and then let her hands fall limp in her lap.

"Ok, let's be frank, you were part of that group. We know he murdered and had your 'friends' murder. He has a little girl that he intends to harm. We need your help. Where is he?" Hotch asked. The girl grinned and leaned her elbow on her knee, propping her head on it. she contemplated under her short bangs then started to sign.

"Have you checked the church?" She asked. Hotch looked at the other two agents.

"Come with me." Hotch said. They followed him to the other room," She is messing with us. Maybe we can make her slip up. She knows something and knows we know. She is so confident he will get away that she is dangling bait in front of us."

"Why did you have us leave?" Prentiss asked.

"She can read lips. She hasn't been this way very long but is very good at talking and understanding us who can talk."

They walked into the room with her and she was humming to herself in the room. She looked up. Reid wondered how she had know they were coming, _one with a sense deprived will develope stronger secondary senses they still have._ She had felt them coming. She smiled again.

"How are you, Dr. Reid?" He smiled as he translated for the others as they sat.

"Ii am doing just fine." He said with his hands.

"I felt so bad about Grey. He was sweatheart. Loved his company so much. I saw the shock on your face." He smiled again.

"So, did you hear about Layla? She is a very sweet girl." Hotch said. Reid translated without hesitation.

"You've met her?" She asked.

"Oh yes. She Angelica gave her location right away. Problem was that the others all ran before we got to them. We do have a lot of finger prints though." Hotch said, eyes not leaving hers.

"Why would you need fingerprints? Layla isn't in any danger. Why would they run?" She smiled.

"We found her. Just a day ago. Angelica told us where to find her." Hotch said.

"Yeah. It doesn't take a genious to find her. She's at home sick with the flu. has been out of school for two days." She raised her eyebrows as if saying _you are lying._

"So she wasn't taken by your brother?" Hotch asked," Cause she seemed pretty scared when we found her." Hotch said. Niether flinched away," Why aren't you looking at Dr. Reid's translations?"

"I read lips. It was easier than sign language for the first few weeks." She smiled.

"Then you would like to know that.." Hotch covered his lips," Reid, stop signing. Act like we are conversing without her."

Reid covered his own mouth," what are you trying to do?"

"Make her think we have somthing important for her. we are going in circles because we have nothing." He uncovered his face," The evidence is clear. Tell us where they are or we will have no choice but to take the DNA off your glass and compare it to the DNA found at the graveyard." He hoped he called it right. She stared into his eyes then her gaze flickered and she inhaled and started to sing.

"Catch me as I fall," Her eyes never left Hotch's,"Say you're here and it's all over now. Speaking to the atmosphere, no one's here and I fall into myself." She glanced at Reid and smiled,"This truth drives me into madness, I know I can stop the pain, if I will it all away." She stood up and walked up to her microphone and spread her arms," Don't turn away! Don't try to hide! Don't close your eyes Don't turn out the light!" Then her voice dropped," Never sleep never die!"

Hotch stood up and blocked the younger agents with his own body as she pulled a handgun and pulled the trigger three times. Reid moved out from behind Hotch and ducked into the doorway of the other room and Prentiss went behind the couch. Hotch dropped to his knees and doubled over. Prentiss popped out over the top of the couch and shot the girl in the chest twice. Reid looked around the corner and ducked back again as she took one desperate shot at him before she fell gasping to the floor.

Reid ran over and kicked the gun away from Brenda and then put his hand on the gushing wound in her chest. Her mother had frozen in the door then the father rushed from his wifes side and put his hands on her other wound. Prentiss called 911 told them an FBI agent was down and there was another injury.

Hotch motioned for her to help Brenda and Prentiss pressed her hands over Reid's. Brenda smiled, coughed then smiled again, starting to sign, weakly. Reid nodded and she passed out. The Paremedics rushed in and a while later they removed her from the room, a second set of medics laying Hotch down and removing his shirt and vest. He had three nasty bruises and only one had pierced the skin. The wounds weren't very bad at all. They let both Reid and Prentiss ride to the hospital with him.

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><p>"What did she say to you?" Hotch asked as he lay in the crisp hospital bed. They had moved him from the ER to a recovery room. He would be out an hour after they were sure he could breathe on his own. It was painful but he ignored it as he talked with the agents. Morgan, Rossi and JJ had not been able to get anything from Mary's parents. They had come to see Hotch and had thirty minutes to talk.<p>

" She said,' Layla's dead. You killed her.' and then she said,' The lake.' We have Garcia finding the address for the lake that boy was drowned in." Reid said.

"Reid, Morgan and Prentiss, go to the lake and check it out. Rossie and JJ check out the surrounding houses to see if they are hiding in the nearby houses." Hotch ordered. They all nodded and Prentiss squeezed his hand reassuringly then grabbed Reid's, Leading him from the room.

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><p><strong>Thank you to Lolyncut , Kira, and Rebecca1 for your lovely reviews.<strong>

**I hope this chapter makes sense. It goes in circles.**

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